Typically, signal dividers and signal filters are made solely of reactive elements so as to minimize losses. For example, the quadrature coupler, one of the more useful kinds of signal dividers, is made of either lengths of transmission lines, or of discrete inductors and capacitors. At the higher frequencies, such quadrature couplers can be readily fabricated in very small, convenient packages. However, at the lower frequencies, i.e., a few Hertz, the size of the reactive components becomes prohibitive. In addition, large inductors and capacitors cannot be easily fabricated by means of integrated circuit techniques.
It is, accordingly, a broad object of the present invention to synthesize signal dividers and signal filters that are capable of operation at very low signal frequencies, are physically small, and are capable of being made by means of integrated circuit techniques.